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Southland Times, Issue 1971, 3 December 1872, Page 2

A telegram was received yesterday from Wellington, by W. H. Pearson, Esq , the local Immigration Officer, intimating that the ship Zaalandia had. on the 4th October last, em barked 190 amigranta for the Bluff. Of thia number, the greater portion are for Messrs Brogden and Sons. The rain, which was so ardently desired towards the end of last week, began to fall on Friday night, and continued to descend intermittently throughout Saturday. Sunday was a splendid day as regards weather, the genial warmth having a marvellous effect on the growth of vegetation after the welcome showers of the previous day. Yesterday it rained incessantly for several hours, and in the evening it appeared as if a spell of south-westerly weather had set in. We have received from tho publishers, Messrs Mills, Dick, and Co., of Dunedin, a copy of their Otago Provincial Almanac and Directory for 1873. This publication was known last year as Reith and Wilkie' s Otago Almanac, and with it is incorporated Rose's Southland Almanac The new proprietors have evidently bestowed considerable labor upon the compilation of the work, for, so far as we have been able to examine it, the information contained seems to be very complete. The special features of this publication are a housekeeper's, a storekeeper's, and a gold buyer's ready reckoner, a grain table, a ,New Zealand telegraph guide, and full particulars regarding the Land Transfer Acts, besides the usual information to be found in works of the sort. Mr K. Rose is the agent for Southland. At the meeting of the Waste Land Board on Friday there were present the Chief Commissioner and Messrs M' Arthur and Baker. An application by Or. Smith and Co. for special license under revised timber regulations for a sawmill in Seaward Bush was granted. The 900-acre reserve at Waimea was withdrawn from sale in accordance with request by telegram from His Honor the Superintendent. Tlie following documents were read -.—Letter from Colonial Secretary to His Honor the Superintendent ; letter from James Gilbraith, of 21st February last, to the Colonial Secretary ; as also a draft ol lease to J. Q-albrairh from- His Excalleney tho Governor connected with lease of Cjifish Island, and which had been referred for report oi Commissioner of Crown Linda by His Honor the Superintendent. The con titions of draft lease were approved. Writing on the 28th ult. from the railway works at Edendale, a correspondent says :—Today has been a regular " Black Thursday" in this quarter, owing to an extensive bush fire which has been raging with terrific energy nearly the whole of the day. It commenced yesterday afternoon, and is supposed to have originated through some person carelessly dropping a lighted match in the bnsh along the line of railway. This first outbreak was checked by the timely assistance of several men, and beyond destroying a few cords of firewood, very little damage was done. Owing, however, to the excessive dryness of the waather, and the " peaty" nature of the soil, the fire must have continued to smoulder underground, for about 11 a.m. today it broke out again with groat fury, and gradually made a clean sweep of everything along the line. I believe no less than 600 cords of firewood were burnt in a few hours. The men in the cutting— who were employed filling the wa«"»ons — were compelled to stop work, and m3ny of them narrowly escaped losing their tents, alon^ with the articles which they contained. A tent bein,*. observed to be on fire amongst the waggons, every effort was made to remove the waggons and other plant on to the embankment, which was at length successfully accomplished. The poor woodsplitters — who did not square or stack up th.-ir firewood — will be heavy losers, and the contractors must also suffer severely. Our Campbelltown correspondent, writing y««---terday, says : — The extension and repair of the Bluff wharf may be said to be now fairly in progress. The first row of piles has been put down, and a considerable portion of the upper work at the east end removed. New beams are being put down, and covered with sis-inch planks, laid three quarters of an inch apart, which will prevent water and dirt accumulating on tho surface, and so causing decay. It is doubtful whether one six-inch plank resting on beams ten feet apart is sufficient to carry the weight it will often be subjected to. There can be no doubt that the new method of planking is not so strong as the old was originally. Those new beams, by the way, are, I am informed, extra. If that portion already opened up affords any criterion as to the soundness of the remainder, the " extras" will be no trifle. The contractors have so far vigorously pushed on tbe work. Forty piles, brought from Winton Bush, and 50,000 feet of sawn timber, are on the ground, besides three and a half tons of iron work that haß been made here. The contract was entered into about the latter part of October. At the meeting of the Otago Waste Land Board, held in Dunedin on tho 27th ult., a report was read from Mr Baker, Invercargill, on the carrying capacity of certain runs, which estimated run 303, the lease of which was to expire in January next, to carry 4300 sheep ; No. 39*, the lease of which was to expire in February, 1874, to carry 8100 sheep, and No. 850, the lease of which was to expire at the same time, to carry 14,350 sheep. The report . was referred to the Goyernment.

Intelligence from Melbourne, received via j Hokitika, reports that the steamer Providence has been blown to atoms on the Darling river, when fire men were killed. ] The statement appeared in our columns Borne ' time ago that the firm of Brogden _ Sons were dissatisfied with the present, Ministry because they refuse 1 to relieve the firm of the engagements entered into for bringing out immigrants. According to Mr Travers, the solicitor retained by Messrs Brogden and Sons in Wellington, the following is the nature of the agreement entered into : — The Government were to pay the passages of emigrants selected by the firm in the old <**mtry, and Brogden's firm wa9 to give tho Government a promissory note for the sum of £10 for every immigrant brought to the Colony, the firm taking from every immigrant a promissory note for £15 or£L6; but tho firm had to pay all the expenses of collecting the immigrants in England, and a variety of charges connected with their maintenance. So that the . difference between the £10 they paid to the Government, and the £15 they o tamed from the immigrants, was not all profit ; there were deductions which reduced the amount to about £2, they paying the whole amount to the Go vernmenfc, and recovering, if they oould, from the immigrant. These iman_ra_ts were subject to a heavier charge than those brought by the ( Government. They had to pay £15, whereas tbose brought out by the Government had only to pay £10. The Break-em-All claim, Winding Creek, Switzers, is sail to have turned out £1000 worth of gold during the last eight weeks. In an article commenting on Provincial politics the Tuapeka Times says : — The efforts to form an Executive have not, up to the time of our writing, proved successful. Overtures have been repeatedly made to influential members of the Liberal party, and very favorable terms offered, but an indisposition to tako office appears to prevail amongst those eligible. This is in a great measure attributable to the intrigues of Mr Reid's personal following, who are making Btrenuous endeavors to put th« Superintendent in a fix, so that their chief may become master of the situation. The Oamaru Times is glad to learn that a movement is a-foot for the formation of a Society among the farmers and graziers in that district, having for its object the holding of regular meetings at which papers on subjects of interest to agriculturalists and stockbreeders will be read, and valuable information disseminated. The Dacotah is expected to mike the passage from San Francisco in 22 days. She will bring a large number of passengers, including Chiarini's Italian Circus, comprising 50 performers and 30 trained horses. Tho company will play in Auckland, and afterwards visit Christchurch and Dunedin, thence proceeding to Melbourne. The Wanganui Chronicle furnishes the following reason why the two bridges in that district wore recenily burnt by the Natives : — The Government built bridges across the Xii Iwi and Okehu streams, and left them there for a considerable time without approaches (being therefore useless), owing to the abandonment of the intended line of road on which they stood, and the opening of a better one inland. The native owner of the land on which these bridges stand is told by a pakeha that he will have to pay taxes to main'ain this roai and the railway to be taken through his land, and that the white people want to open the other road for which he (the Maori) will also be taxed, and gives him information and a lvico th it will probibly co^ne before the public by-and-bya. The native writes to tbe Government and obj ets to the bridges being left on his land, as he says they are a nuisance, &c, and finally, at whose instigation we know not, sets fire to them. One of the terminable Building Societies in New Plymouth ( Taranaki) ran out iv 6 years and 8 months. Two banks were defendants in actions tried in the Supreme Court, Melbourne, lately, for the dishonor of cheques or bills — the National and the London Chartered. The National was sued by Mr Newcomen, a grazier, for the dishonor of a cheque of £230 he had drawn. It appeared that in IS7I he had acted for a short time as overseer for a station of which the bank took possession as security for a debt due by Mr A. M'Kinley, a squatter. After be was paid, there was some dispute between the b ink and M_inley as to the expenses eh irge 1, an I Newcomen having an account at the bank, he was debited with £126 6s, which appeared to be tho sum in dispute. Not knowing this in titfie, he drew a cheque for a larger aura than was to his credit in the hooks, and it was dishonored Tha jury awarded him £500 as compensation for the loss his credit sustained, and also gave him a verdict for the £126 6s, for which he also sued. The action against the London Chartered Bank was brought by Messrs Erans and Bilton, wine merchants, whose bill for £10 was dishonored at the Bourke-street branch, principally iv consequence of the manager being absent when the bill was presented. The jury gave a verdict for plaintiff for £90. The Otago Waste Land Board consists of the following members : — Mr J. T.Thomson, Chief Commissioner, and Messrs John Hughes, George Duncan, James Allan, Donald Reid, and W. A. Tolmie, Commissioners. His Excellency has forwarded the following telegram to the Superintendent of Otago : —The Governor and Lady Bowen shall have great pleasure in attending the Caledonian games on Ist January ; also the Masonic ball to which they have been invited on the 26th December. His Excellency has just had a very successful meeting at Foxton with all the leading chiefs and tribes. He congratulates Otago that his successor is a Scotchman." Mr John White, M.H.R. for Hokitika, addressed a meeting of his constituents on the 25th ult., and received a unanimou* vote of confidence. The yield of gold at the Thames up to the 25th of last month was 8877 ozs, and at Coromandel 104.2 ozs. This is an excess of 1033 ozs over the previous month's yield. The Wellington Independent condemns the immigration arrangements at home. It says they are indolent, slovenly, and inefficient. The limits of the Otago goldfields hare been extended to include 60,000 acres, bounded by a line from the source of the Mataura along the Eyre mountains to the source of the Eyre river ; thence to its junction with the Mataura ; thence 1 following up the Mataura to its starting point.

Advices from Fiji to the 18th ult. have been received in Auckland. Political affairs were in a satisfactory condition, and the revenue steady. More hostilities are reported. Two houses, the property ot Muir and Blackford, were burned down by a native boy, instructed by Turaga Navesa at Navo. Twelve men, headed by Lucks, started in search of the culprit on the following day. They went to tho town of Dretchoba, and handcuffed twenty of the natives. A court was then formed, and the youth was sentenced to receive forty lashes, and to work for two years on a European plantation. The chief Turnga was sentenced to receive Gfty lashes, and his tribe, as being accessory to the deed, was fined and made to give a piece of land to the sufferers as compensation. The revenue of the Provincial Government of Otago for the quarter ended 30th September last was £46,656 Is 2d, and the expenditure £57,419 9s 4d. The revenue accrued as follows : — Fiom Crown Lands, £26,271 9s 3d ; gold export duty, £4214 15a Id ; goi (fields' revenue, £4004, 15s 7d j harbor dues, £68 Is 7d ; dog tax, £426 ; goat tax, £1 15s ; rents, £57 7s ; sale of Government buildings and land, £281 Is lOd ; General Government, £3582 6s 9d ; repayments (immigration, hospital, luaatic asylum, and industrial school), £465 8s 6i ; education, £953 15s 8d ; licenses, £311 11a ; -and rDideellanooils, £5200 16s 4d.